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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064946">Fading Fast</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deveroux/pseuds/Deveroux'>Deveroux</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Voltron: Legendary Defender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Captive keith, Keith whump, M/M, References to Torture</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:54:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,002</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26064946</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deveroux/pseuds/Deveroux</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Even captured and abused, Keith will do what he can to protect the people he cares about, no matter what that means for him. He loses track of time, of everything except the pain that weaves through every atom of his existence, and he's fading fast.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>If he just closed his eyes, it might all end. That was something he welcomed. His lips twitched upward in a pitiful mimicry of a smile, feigned peace settling over him, but gunmetal eyes crossed his thoughts and he gasped in a breath. It burned on the way in and he could almost trick himself into believing that caused the tears pricking at his eyes, the tears he fought tooth and nail to hold back, the tears he refused to shed, but he knew in the dark recesses of his heart that was a lie. Every part of him pleaded for Shiro to find him, to come for him, but he’d been abandoned.</p>
</blockquote>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Keith/Shiro (Voltron)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>123</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fading Fast</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This story was written for Navii (<a href="https://twitter.com/lovelybiird_">@lovelybiird_</a>).</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>How long had he been there, trapped within walls forged of alloy with only the barest sliver of unnatural light reaching him through the tiny, sorry excuse for a window in the cell’s door? The days had bled together alongside the silence, leaving him with only the thoughts whirling around his head, thoughts that screamed of loneliness and abandonment, of the pain of shattered bones left unattended. He couldn’t even recall what his captors looked like any longer, not when they hadn’t even bothered to drag him from his cell for another round of torment. He thought maybe he should be grateful for that in some ways.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>His vision was blurred around the edges, his throat parched worse than the desert sands, and his body was too weak to hold itself upright; when was the last time they’d even given him a scrap of food, a drop of water, anything at all? How much longer could he possibly last? How much longer could he resist, refusing to utter a single word as they demanded information? Truthfully, he wasn’t sure he could speak at all any longer.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Tired indigo eyes stared at the bar of light on the cell’s floor, listless and hopeless. He couldn’t fight any longer, he thought. Not in the worn-down state he’d found himself in. All that remained for him was a grave, but he’d take the information they so craved right along with him. They could ask about Shiro, about the Paladins, about the Atlas as many times as they wanted, but he would not yield.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He shook his head slightly in an attempt to clear his thoughts, to shock his system enough with the movement that maybe it would clear the fog around the edges of his vision, but all it did was send pain landing through his skull. That made sense, perhaps; some distant part of him could recall punches and blows to the head, and another was at least passingly certain he’d been thrown head-first into the unyielding metal of the walls more than once when they’d returned him to his cell.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Did it matter if he was trapped? That distant part inside of him wondered if anyone had even noticed his absence or if perhaps his captors had been right when they’d said time and again that no one would come for him. No one cared, his mind supplied, and he no longer had the will to dispel such thoughts. Maybe that nagging voice in his head, the one that spoke of his darkest worries and fears, had been right all along.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>If he just closed his eyes, it might all end. That was something he welcomed. His lips twitched upward in a pitiful mimicry of a smile, feigned peace settling over him, but gunmetal eyes crossed his thoughts and he gasped in a breath. It burned on the way in and he could almost trick himself into believing that caused the tears pricking at his eyes, the tears he fought tooth and nail to hold back, the tears he refused to shed, but he knew in the dark recesses of his heart that was a lie. Every part of him pleaded for Shiro to find him, to come for him, but he’d been abandoned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Slowly, his eyelids drooped closed, leaden and unyielding. Something thudded in the distance, or maybe it was the pain throbbing through his body; it seemed to grow louder with every pained, shallow breath and with every millimeter closer his eyes grew to closing. Fitting, he thought. The sound would drown everything out, overcoming his entire existence as he faded away. Soon, there would be nothing left except–</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Keith!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The relieved exclamation of his name cut through everything; he opened his eyes again, but he couldn’t bring them past mere slits, squinting against what was now too much light and the blurry shape of a figure silhouetted by the light. He knew that voice; he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew</span>
  </em>
  <span> that voice, but it couldn’t be there. It simply wasn’t possible, and he knew that, too. But something was touching him, hands so much larger than his own lifting him with gentle care, and it had to be a hallucination, a final mercy provided by his mind, fulfilling his dying wish.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A whimper and a whine left him as his body was jostled and lifted, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>that voice</span>
  </em>
  <span> shushed him quietly, reassuring him, “I know; I know it hurts, but I’m here now. It’ll all be over soon, Keith, I just need to get you out of here.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He didn’t have any way of responding, but it didn’t matter either way; this was nothing more than a conjured illusion, a final comfort as the life left him. He was so sure of it, but he couldn’t understand how or why it felt so warm or why pain still landed through his entire being. Maybe that didn’t matter either, though, because despite the pain, there was still comfort to be found in strong arms and gentle hands. His eyes, still squinting against the light and unable to focus through blurred fog to determine more than fuzzy patterns of color, caught on something silver-white, and relief flooded his thoughts. The strength and warmth, the fuzzy, silvery white, it could only be–</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shi…ro…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s right.” The voice was so much more familiar now, warm and sure, just the right amount of deep and calm. It was an anchor for Keith’s fading consciousness, and it brought the faintest twitch of a smile to his lips as his head was guided to rest on something solid and warm, his face buried against skin, and he when he inhaled, the clean, familiar scent of Shiro’s aftershave soothes the burning he felt exploding in his chest with each breath. “I’m here now; I’m getting you out of here. You’re safe.” There was a pause and he felt fingers in his hair, petting him gently. The next words were whispered, something reassuring and caring. “I found you, Keith. I found you.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you again for joining me through this short journey. Please feel free to comment, or stop by my Twitter (<a href="https://twitter.com/RixanDeveroux">@RixanDeveroux</a>) to get in touch with me if you’d like. I tend to post a lot of random idea threads there that often get ridiculously long, if you’re interested.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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